Photo: DPA

Blind women training to detect breast cancer

Published: 22 Jul 09 14:24 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/society/20090722-20761.html

A new programme called “Discovering Hands” is training blind women to use their developed tactile skills to detect breast cancer earlier and more precisely than doctors, news magazine Der Spiegel reported on Wednesday.

Duisburg-based gynaecologist Frank Hoffmann began the programme two years ago to improve the quality of breast palpation, which he says is often rushed in busy German doctors’ offices.

“The only compulsory breast exam for women under 50 is the manual breast exam,” he told the magazine's website. “The time constraints for this are just too bad. I can’t examine the breasts for 30 minutes, I have a few minutes at most.”

So far 10 blind women have been trained as Medical Tactile Examiners (MTUs) at the BFW occupational school for the blind in Düren. Their certification is recognised by the North Rhine-Westphalia medical association.

New instructors are being trained in Düren and the programme hopes to have MTUs place in Mainz, Nuremberg and Halle by April 2010, the magazine reported.

MTUs are able to take their time with patients, and when they find something, identify its location exactly for doctors, who then decide on the appropriate treatment. Each exam costs between €25 and €30, but so far only one health insurer covers the charges, Der Spiegel reported.

A study of the programme at the Essen University women’s clinic showed that MTUs found more tumours and smaller tumours than doctors in 450 cases.

“It’s like playing Battle Ship,” 57-year-old MTU Marie-Luise Voll told the magazine. The former nurse lost her sight three years ago and has since developed her tactile skills reading Braille. “If we find an abnormality, we can tell the doctors exactly where,” she said.

Each year some 50,000 German women are diagnosed with breast cancer, while 15,000 die from the disease, Der Spiegel reported.

The Local (news@thelocal.de)

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Your comments about this article:

#1
10:20 July 23, 2009 by Starshollow
what about blind men? or, aeh, voluntary blindfolded men... sure there would be many volunteers
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#2
10:30 July 23, 2009 by Steven192
"compulsory breast exam"?

Really - so who goes round and checks that women have had this done? Do they get stamped or something when it has been done.
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#3
11:11 July 23, 2009 by westvan
Probably a bad translation. I'm thinking they're using compulsory to mean "vorgesehen" in the sense of being highly recommended. A quick breast palpation (sounds horrible, doesn't it?) is usually all that insurance pays for in women under 50 when they go to have the yearly check-up.

I saw a program on this subject a while ago. Don't know if it was this woman or another one but her skills were amazing.
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#4
11:14 July 23, 2009 by Lorelei
There aren't always lumps to detect anyway. A patient's life shouldn't have to depend on a technique that involves trying to find a needle in a haystack or waiting until the disease is far enough advanced for a lump to have developed. More refined screening methods (e.g. mammogram + ultrasound) should be used as a matter of routine.
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#5
11:20 July 23, 2009 by westvan
There aren't always lumps to detect. A patient's life shouldn't have to depend on a technique that involves trying to find a needle in a haystack or w…
I'm with you on that one. I still don't get why health insurance companies won't pay for mammograms and ultrasounds for women under 50 (unless a lump has already been discovered), but will happily shell out thousand of Teuros for cancer treatment. They seem to be much more into after-the-fact treatment/therapy than trying to prevent something in the first place with proper screening.
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#6
11:22 July 23, 2009 by Kay
A quick breast palpitation (sounds horrible, doesn't it?)
It's 'palpation' (not that it sounds any better).
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#7
11:25 July 23, 2009 by westvan
Urghh. Thanks, will edit that.
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#8
11:29 July 23, 2009 by Gen
"compulsory breast exam"?

Really - so who goes round and checks that women have had this done? Do they get stamped or something …
Probably a bad translation. I'm thinking they're using compulsory to mean "vorgesehen" in the sense of being highly recommended. A quick bre…
Yup -- another bad translation.

http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/mensch/...,637247,00.html -- the original article. Why doesn't The Local link to it? I don't know. Anyway there it says
"Die einzige gesetzlich vorgesehene Brustkrebsvorsorgeuntersuchung bei Frauen unter 50 Jahren ist das Abtasten der Brust", sagt der Frauenar…
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#9
12:20 July 23, 2009 by Lorelei
I still don't get why health insurance companies won't pay for mammograms and ultrasounds for women under 50 (unless a lump has already been discovered)...
Perhaps it's not seen as cost-effective, if breast cancer tends to be a disease of older women.
... whatever the costs (human and financial), breast cancer screening saves lives. In 100 women aged about 50, three would die from breast cancer in t…
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/339/ju...ourcetype=HWCITOn the other hand:
Recent research questions the benefit of mammography screening for breast cancer...
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/339/jul22_3/b2973
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#10
12:29 July 23, 2009 by ruapehu
I'm with you on that one. I still don't get why health insurance companies won't pay for mammograms and ultrasounds for women under 50 (unless a lump has already been discovered
You mean state insurance presumably. My private medical insurance pays for both, although the mammogram I think only at certain intervals (I think 2 years)...my doc may have given a reason for the mammograms, but it was something like unusual structure, cos she didn't suspect there was a lump.
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#11
10:21 July 24, 2009 by OneOfOne
what about blind men? or, aeh, voluntary blindfolded men... sure there would be many volunteers
Blind men will be trained to examine for testicular cancer.
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#12
10:31 July 24, 2009 by westvan
You mean state insurance presumably.
Yes, I meant public insurance.
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